By the Pennsauken Board of Education: Nick Perry, President; Allyson Meloni-Scavuzzo, Vice President; Cheryl Duffy; Michael Hurley; Diane Johnson; Leona Moss; Jennifer Slattery; Orlando Viera; and JoAnn Young

The end of the school year is often accompanied by cheers of joy, screams of excitement, and thoughts of fun activities that will be experienced all summer long. The Board of Education, administration and staff recognize that the summer months provide an important period of rest and relaxation for students who have been working diligently over the last nine months. We wish them a happy and healthy summer break!

Though the summer recess is important for students and staff, it is well documented that the long break correlates with a lack of retention of information that students have learned over the course of the preceding school year. According to Oxford Learning, students lose about two to three months of material that they had learned during the school year over the summer months. This means that when the new school year begins, teachers must spend the first few months re-teaching material that had been covered the previous year; which, in turn, means that classes may be playing catch up all year long.

With this knowledge, Superintendent Tarchichi, with the support of the Board of Education, has created a new summer enrichment program offered to all students in Pennsauken Township in grades one through 11. The summer enrichment program is different from our traditional summer school, which was offered to middle and high school students in past years and focused on credit recovery for students who were not successful in their classes during the school year. The new enrichment program is for any child, who is a resident of Pennsauken and who is interested in maximizing the retention of information over the summer months. Statistics have shown that with just a few hours of education per week, any loss of material caused by the summer break can be prevented. This is the goal of the enrichment program.

The enrichment program will run four days a week (Monday-Thursday) from 8:00 a.m. to noon. It will consist of 60-minute blocks of math, science, language arts; as well as an additional block in which the students will be able to choose from either physical education or music. The first session will begin on Monday, June 26 and the program will conclude on Thursday, Aug. 10.

In addition for our student athletes, Pennsauken High School will host a strength and speed camp that will operate on the same dates as summer enrichment. This camp will help our athletes both academically and athletically in their future and it is cost free. We want the best for our students and believe rewarding them with programs that will directly benefit their future is our responsibility.

Advertising for the program began in March and interest has been very high. Because the program has proven to be extremely popular. The deadline for application to the program was on May 21, but students can still apply and will be placed on a waiting list. Please visit www.pennsauken.net for more information on the program.

Board Bit Of The Month

Pennsauken is the only school district within the immediate area to offer a summer enrichment program like this. It is also the first educational program that has been offered by the Pennsauken School District that is open to all children in Pennsauken Township, not only those who are enrolled in Pennsauken Public Schools.